Smokeless powder.



1. c. NICHOLLS. SMDKELESS POWDER. AIPPLICATION FILED FEB. 21| 1916.

f 17,208,358.A l Patented De@.12,1916.

'i vavv loudreportattended b y small' Vamounts ,of

Y Y rl' "nppncatibamedFebraaryaigsia srialumam.-

TovaZZ wkomft may concern;-

' Y"1de it' known that LJEssE Ycitizen of the United States,` residing-at` Picatinny Arsenal,"V Dover, county of Morris, Statef'of New` Jersey, have invented new and useful VImprovements in Smoke- -less Powders, ofwhich" the following -is specification'. Y f invention 1ol View of obtaining a nishedrproduct which relates to a'n improvement 1n.l smokeless powders,.'with the object in V'can be used in firingj'from cannon, blank charges or charges-withvery little tamping,

without the usual' projectile, and will, when so fired, produce a loud report similar to that 4obtainedfwhen liringtakes'place' with amy munition. consistinggof the usual propelling charge ofpowderand a projectile.

2 A My invention lis herewithfully liForf convenience, "'the 'powderniwill hereinafter be, used to desigdescribed and'l pointed yout inthe vclaims,v f

term fmaneuver "Y Y1natepowders f which, when fired without f high resistance such as that by! the -usual' proj ectile, are capableI rofl producing smoke ory visible vapors, 'andi thus simulate f the 'regularf 1 service rround of f smokeless powder and; projectile as to report and ap- V1p earance." A .A f Heretofore, attempts have been ma'detO use, 1 for maneuverfp'owders, the following powders, among others, =in some instances separately,` and in others mixed togethento t offthe .straight nitrocellulose type vand v:of

V,the nitrocellulosefnitroglycerinV type, sepa-V xrately, Yor in combination, with each other.

"(b)Certain pistollpowders, such as'those 40 known, commercially, runder.. the '-'inames i different-known" solv entsfornitrocelluloselY ilte'r, and' tissue papers-partly celloide'd Tor. partly dissolved; in'Vv various "degrees, by; i the or f cellulose fntrateli e) Powdersinadef of,

ltents, either alone 'or mixed V'one with' an- Aothe r,gcolloi ded or partly dissolved with different'saiyemsipressafiiftb-ehingwaued no1-" werevabout twox or t'hree': times" las long asi their:l outside? Vdia'neter.1:- f Sii-'called f f i sMoKELEss Pownnn, f

but'wh'chappears lto be initiated` papery partly colloided or dissolved and thenfdried.V (g) (Single perforated cord of powder, constituency like thatused in the U; Sgn

magazine rifle, Cal. .30, 4but differing in Y` form,iny that it was out toa Short lengthof 'only about one two-hundredths'of an inch,V

(it) Nitrocellulose powder extruded from Du Pont Lesmok and others of similar.V

composition.

ythe graining press in the form-of long, very' Y thin, flatvv ribbons; i) The above powders vcombined with ordinary fine grained char- The powders or combinations of powders enumerated abovehave vwithout exception, -been not very suitable, or entirely unsuitableV Yfor use as Vmaneuver powders for one or more of thefollowing reasons: Report not high or irregular pressures; loss of chemical loud fenoughgtoo much smoke produced;

stabilityv 'with'ageg :space occupied by the appropriate chargesosmall as to allow-inf yfterference between'a long primer' and the VVclosing wad Y that holds Vthe powder vin the 'caseg' small fspace 'l occupied by the approA` priate charge rendering liable lthe use Vof Va' dangerously large charge, dueto error in weighing, measuring :or otherwise l selecting `the amount ofthejpowder to be usedin the Vcutting upfA or subdividing-powder of jsuit-y i g Y y @9074 Y r The -objectlof my invention,-as1set fort`h" above, is' attained by Ya particular method of able:v constituency,V which-will bey"under stood-` 1 'i from the yffollowing Rods, `jcords, or other :9a4 convenient forms o'fpowder 'of'fthe "same 1 cj'oln'positionsor similar'. in v'generaljto'any'ofly Y, :the usualr smokeless powders, are .preferably f "thejmaterialemployed'and subjecte'dfto the Y novel 'method of subdivision;y f Some :of these i are comp'osedof: Cellulose nitrate or' .-nitro i cellulose,sometimescalled gun:cotton'when" :high/ in nitration (13; 20%fof nitrogen),VV or Vvpyrocellulose "when comparatively` 'low in vnitrogen? -(1 2;60 of Y 'nitrogen), mixed Vor ',colloi'dediw'ith 'mixture of ether and alcohol, l

'nitroglycerima Y nitroglycerinj and `4acetone,,4

famyl alcohol, lamyl,Y acetate, ethyl acetatezor 1 other-such 'solvents orfmixturesV of Vsolvents. v Howevenl I do 4not limit :myself jto:` cellulose nitrates of ,the-'above percentage's'v nitrogen, asV :the 'p'erczentages 'may; vary! greatlyfz;

Y myself to the ingredients mentioned.V

One convenient way'rto proceedis to mix the ingredients and runV the mixture through' thev usual blocking presses and grainingVV press, so Vasto convertY it intoV a colloidal fomn generally similar to that ready to Vbe cut into grains in making Vordinary propelling smokeless powders. The extruded rodv or cord is then cut into suchY lengths that the pieces may be placed conveniently in appropriate machines, hereinafter described, for again cutting them totheir final form, after which the resulting powder may be dried if necessary so that it is ready for use in `tiring blank rounds.

This powder may be cut to its finished iorm immediately after being pressed into rods or cords,'while it is green-that is, still contains a great amount of the solvents or other volatiles. It also may be cut to finished form atV any degree of dryness from theV green state to the state usually known as Vcompletely dry, in which latter state the solvents or other volatiles originally contained in the powder have evaporated away until only a small percentage of them remains in the pieces to be cut. As an illustration, the rods may be cut to finished product while they contain anywhere from 5% or less to about 50% of volatiles and solvent. I do not limit myself to these percentages, but

vcan use percentages both higher and lower than those given. The rods, cords, or other shapes are then, by the use of suitable tools or machines, cut or shaved into disks, sheets A or ribbons, comparatively very thin, that is to say, with a thickness 'very Ysmall as'compared to the dimensions in the plane of the section such as diameter, or length and Vbreadth of the shaving. I am aware that powders have been made by rolling, pressing or cutting so that the least dimension is much less than the other two dimensions.

However, in noneof those powders have the ratios of least dimension to the other dimensions beenV small enough to make those Y powders suit-able'forV use as maneuver powders. For instance, the pistol powders known as Bullseye and Pistol No; l Yconsist of grains in the form ofrthin disks.

lVhen first cut these disks are only about one three hundred and Vtiftieth of Van inch thick, and the diameter ofthe disks is about v i of the thickness tothe other two dimensions .is much fless than for .the Bullseye Vor Pistol No. 1. In accord-ance with my invention herein jdescribed, Vthe maneuver .powder may Ybeicut Vin the following way' among othersr'lftodsVV about two feetflong, and with'ra diameter of Vfrom one-half inch totwo inches, withorwithout oneor moreV longitudinal perfor-ations, are placed in a lathe, so as to rot-ate, while an ordinary side tool or similar ,tool mounted in a slowly advancing tool post shaves a thin sheet or ribbon from the end of the rod of powder. In this manner, a maneuver powder suitable for use in the three-inchield gun and other A'mobile artillery guns and howitzers of greater and less calibers than three-inch,

has been produced when 'the rod of powder makes from 500 to 800 revolutions while the toolgis advancing one inch. I do not limit Vmyself to 500 to 8,00 revolutions per inch advance of the tool, as a greater or lessV number of, revolutionswill answer. The same result .may be obtained with the cutting tool or tools revolving and the powder advancing, or with the tool or tools revolving and advancing and the powder stationary, or with any other combination of motions such that the relative motions of tool and powder are as above described.

I do not limit myself to the ordinary side tool lor tools, as the powder may be pro' duced among other ways, by mounting a tool or tools in a holder of the type sometimes called pencil sharpcner. As previously indicated, the pencil Sharpener may revolverand advance, or revolve only,

or advance only, or be without motion, the motion or Ylack of motion Vof the rod or piece' of powder conformingthereto.

In the appended drawings, ,which form a part of this specification, Figure l is apei'- spective view of a suggestive device for carrying out the method of cutting with side tool; Fig. 2 is a side view illustrating a powder cutting tool of the pencil Sharpener type; Fig. 3 is an end Aview of the form of tool shown in Fig. 2; Fig. t suggests another form of cutter in which successive Vblades traverse the entire face of the powder rod; Fig. 5 is a view in a direction atright angles to that of Fig. 4, showing a method Vof bringing a succession of shaving knives across the face of the powder rod, and Figs.

`6 and 7v are an edge view and a face view, re-

f adapted to cut shavings from the conical endof'the powder stick 1, when the cutter -is rotated, through its shank 6 or held -through said 'shank'while the'powder stick is rotated.

Y According tol-Fig.: 4, ,blades 7 to Vbe held in any suitable manner in a mounting (not shown), between which and the powder stick l bodily Vmovement takes place, are adapted Yto cut shavings vfrom the powder stick by ll o V9, mounted in a rotary head 10, are adapted 'l to shave chips from the end of the powder `stick l with the same effect as described'in connection with Figs. l and v5.

., While not essential to my process, it is ldesirable that aspray or stream of water lflow-*upon the tool or powdergor both, While the powder is being cut to avoid the dangerk offgre from heating of the toolor piece of powder being cut. It may or may not be necessary to dry the Ymaneuver powder after it is cut, depending lupon the composition of the rod oi" piece of explosive used in lmaking the maneuver powder, or upon whether or not the powder is wet with water while beingfcut.V

If'a stick or cord of the. same composition as what is known as straight nitrocellulose powder, isrcut green or with a consider,"-y

yable amount of the solvents remaining in lit, the'maneuver powder willf'usually have to j be dried before itwill give the most satisfactory results in firing.v Ifthey stickv lor cord has'already been driedl so as greatly to reduce the moisture and volatile content, and the maneuver powder has-not` been wet in cutting, there may be no necessity for Y l l' composed of shavings orchips of relatively;

`further drying. l

1 Powders composed of mixtures v of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin wheny cut into .maneuver powderusually require no further ldryingor but little drying, unless they have been wet while being cut. When drying is necessary', it may be accomplished in any of ythe usual ways. One satisfactory method is to place the powder in rooms or chambers,.

in which the temperature is raised to from 40* centigrade to 70 centigrade. lI do not Y lloiiiesiof this patent may be obtained for five cents kea'ch,`1oy addressing the Commissioner offrrarteiits,y l v washrinstonmy "Y Y Y limit myself t0 :those temperatures as Vtliejj) l I,

powder maybe .dried satsfactorily at othery temperatures. It may also be driedsatis# tures, or even by exposing to ordinary atw. finospheric temperatura` tion, or byk vacuum using various temperaf I claim f V1; A maneuver lpowder which, when'red."k 'with low confining resistance, will'simulate in report and appearance, the discharge. ofla normal 'service charge; said powderconsis'tfv ing of sheets or disks cut from rods, ,sticks or other pieces oi explosive of suitable 'com` position, which strips, sheets or disks are relatively very thin as comparedwith their. other dimensions, v such as length and breadth, or diameter.' Y Y 2. A maneuver powder which, -when fired with low conlining resistance,vvvill simulate in report'and appearance, the discharge of a normal service charge; said powder consistingV of sheets or,y disks Vcutv trom rods,

lsticks or other pieces oit' explosive of suitable composition, which strips, sheets or n disks are relatively very thin as" compared i o with/their other dimensions, such. as lengthV and breadth, or diameter; said strips,sheets,v i

Vor disks being of a formdevelopinga comparativelyA large bulk'and. occupying a space using, through error or accident, adanger-Y f ously large charge.

3. Theherein described maneuver powder,y

V530 o o thin dimension and of orm developing a large bulk in comparison with its density,

and 'having the qualities of developing, when Y Dover, New Jersey, this 14thV1 day oflebruary, 1916. u j

' .iiissii o. nioii'oiL-s.-A

7'5 suilicient toV constitute a'safeguard 'against r 

